Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, helped by volume increases and foreign currency translation.

Western Europe's biggest bottler of Coca-Cola Co drinks said net income rose to $246 million from $199 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings were 74 cents. The company did not provide a comparable earnings-per-share figure for the year-earlier period.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were 76 cents per share. On that basis, analysts on average were expecting 74 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose to $2.41 billion, topping analysts' estimate of $2.31 billion. Sales by volume rose 4.5 percent.

The company said it still expects earnings of $2.10 to $2.15 per share in 2011, including a benefit of 15 cents per share from the weak U.S. dollar.

Following Coca-Cola's acquisition of the bottler's North American operations, Coca-Cola Enterprises has become a U.S.-based company operating only in Europe. It buys syrup concentrate from Coke and bottles and distributes drinks in seven nations such as Britain and France.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Dave Zimmerman)

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